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2019 < View Public Art Projects ALEX COUWENBERG : APOLLO 2019

Up The Rule of Progress Rob Grad Southern California native, Rob Grad, is known for his introspective, yet bold 3D collages, sculptures, writing, and music. His heavily layered visuals contrast photographic vignettes of natural and urban environments, with drawing, painting, and his words–an aesthetic largely shaped by his two decades living in Venice Beach, CA. Grad’s approach to using Joshua Trees in his work is largely metaphorical. He references a story of Mormons naming the trees, where they felt the branches were reaching to heaven. This work was inspired by a poem Grad wrote about progress, and how it can’t be measured with a line on a graph. He writes, “it’s a flailing, fussy, slobbery glob.” In this image, Grad is posing the question, what actually is “progress?” What is the benefit? And what is the cost? Lines and shapes move in and around the branches, suggesting how close our relationship is with our environment, even at great distances apart. But it is only the tree that touches the ground and has the ability to find water for nourishment in the barren landscape. The idea of nourishment can also be seen as a metaphor here, for nourishing our desires and our thirst for a better life and a better tomorrow. Is that in fact, what we are creating? Can society as a whole actually learn and grow from its missteps? Grad’s work addresses the existential issues of desire and fulfillment in a society inundated by technology, social media, and politics. His new work is increasingly influenced by his early career as a musician when he was signed to RCA records and appeared on MTV not long after graduating high school. He is a product of the “MTV generation,” which found its identity through a shared global experience before the invention of social media. It was a generation that invented itself as it went along. This ethos is a cornerstone of Grad’s studio practice, always pushing himself into new and uncomfortable territory in an effort to extract the extraordinary from the mundane. He has shown in museums, galleries, and art fairs from Basel to Miami, and Los Angeles. Recent exhibitions include the Museum of Art and History in Lancaster, CA, and the Torrance Art Museum in Torrance, CA. He has commissioned work in the San Francisco airport, Hudson Pacific Properties, El Rancho Properties, the Zildjian corporate offices in Boston and Los Angeles, LA’s Griffin Athletic Club, and his work is held in private collections. Rob gave a TEDx Talk in Culver City, CA about authenticity in art and following the internal muse, and participated in a video project for TikTok China. He also writes a blog about his art practice called “Creativesphere,” and speaks to students in schools about the importance of learning to think creatively not only in art but to solve problems in today’s culture and society. January - June 2023 Back to list

The Other Way Around < Back Super A The Other Way Around May 14 - August 21, 2022 1/4 Previous Next Stefen Thelen, otherwise known by his anti-superhero alter-ego, Super A, is a Dutch artist who specializes in mural and studio paintings that use a hyper realistic and surrealist style. His alter ego was born out of his previous background as a graffiti artist and serves as a vessel for his more controversial interrogations of society — allowing for a more objective lens for his artistic analysis. Super A officially started his artistic career in 2004 but before then, he would work in amusement parks where he would gain first-hand experience in the creation of fantasy for the general public. This experience would inform his future work, working to unravel the distinction between reality and illusion. The tension found between two opposing ideas is a common thread seen within his work, namely his Trapped series. The Other Way Around is a continuation of this series and demonstrates the distinction between reality and the facade, revealing the truth behind the metaphorical mask. Stefan Thelen is a street and gallery artist based in the Netherlands who graduated from Graphic Lyceum in Rotterdam, Netherlands. Super A’s murals and works have been featured in galleries around the world including Germany, London, Paris, Belgium, The Netherlands, Spain, and the United States, among others. Super A’s mural was painted as part of Antelope Valley Walls! (formerly POW!WOW! Antelope Valley) in 2018. The mural is located at Lancaster Blvd in Lancaster, California.

< Back Brad Miller Brad Miller’s work draws inspiration from the fractal patterns of the physical world, which have been transformed into symbolic motifs across cultures for thousands of years. Miller’s practice explores archetypal patterns such as spirals, close-packing forms, and dendritic systems. The spontaneous fractal patterns that form in the physical world have always captured artist Brad Miller’s attention. Over time, he noticed that for thousands of years, several of these patterns have been internalized and transformed by people worldwide into content-laden symbols. One ever-present example is the variations of stylized spirals. They are seen on many objects throughout history: a Mimbres pot, Celtic tombstones, Van Gogh’s Starry Night and 5,000-year-old Chinese pots from Majiayao. With today’s technologies pushing the limits of seeing into and out to the edges of the universe, these familiar patterns constantly reappear. In his artistic practice, Miller explores several of these archetypal patterns, including spirals, close-packing patterns, and dendritic systems. Using diverse materials and processes including silver-gelatin photograms, pyrographic drawing, and ceramics, Miller infuses his work with these timeless and familiar patterns, as they dance between order and chaos. Previous Next

Artist Lorraine Bubar explored the Prime Desert Woodland Preserve during a six-month period in 2025 as part of the Elyze Clifford Interpretive Center (ECIC) Artist-in-Residence program. In that time, she created beautiful papercut artworks inspired by the Mojave Desert landscape. Her colorful, layered paper pieces capture the unique plants, animals, and natural beauty of this special urban desert oasis. The work on view in her exhibition at ECIC are print reproductions of these cut paper works she created through a technique that she sees as painting with paper. These intricate designs weave together themes of metamorphosis, movement, and the hierarchies of desert life. Her artwork celebrates the amazing ecosystems found right here in our local preserve. During her residency, Bubar also taught community workshops, sharing her love of art and nature with visitors. Artwork provided by Lorraine Bubar Elyze Clifford Interpretive Center: 43201 35th St W, Lancaster, CA 93536 << Back to PDWP & ECIC page

< Back to ACTIVATION 1/18 Mark Steven Greenfield A Survey, 2001-2021 January 22 - April 17, 2022 Mark Steven Greenfield is a native Angeleno. Born into a military family, he spent his early years in Taiwan and Germany, returning to Los Angeles at the age of 10. Entering into an American adolescence after being abroad gave Greenfield a unique look at the negative stereotyping of African Americans like himself, sparking his interest in the complexities of the Black experience both historically and in contemporary society. Greenfield’s creative process is based on research that delves into topics of Black genealogy, heritage, and cultural representation. His artwork is anchored in aspects of Black history that have been buried, forgotten, or omitted. Mark Steven Greenfield studied at what is now the Otis College of Art and Design and went on to receive a Bachelor’s degree in Education from California State University, Long Beach in 1973. To support his artistic practice, he held various positions as a visual display artist, park director, graphic design instructor, and police sketch artist before returning to school to earn his Master of Fine Arts degree in painting and drawing from California State University, Los Angeles in 1987. Since then, Greenfield has been a significant figure in the Los Angeles arts scene, serving as arts administrator for the Los Angeles Department of Cultural Affairs, director of the Watts Towers Arts Center and the Towers of Simon Rodia, director of the Los Angeles Municipal Art Gallery, and as a board member for the Downtown Arts Development Association, the Korean Museum, and The Armory Center for the Arts — to name a few. Greenfield has been teaching painting and design courses at Los Angeles City College since 1997. Previous Next

< Back to ACTIVATION 1/12 April Bey The Opulent Blerd January 22 - April 17, 2022 Raised in The Bahamas, Los Angeles-based artist April Bey provides reflective and social critique of American and Bahamian cultures. Her artworks are often weaponized with concepts of Afrofuturism, a genre of speculative fiction regarding the future and significance of peoples and cultures within the African Diaspora. Pop culture, racial construct, and feminism are some of the many topics that Bey discusses. Research, material, and processes are crucial contributors to Bey’s work, she often travels on a national and international scale, allowing her to gather experience, material, and cultural information directly from the source. Using an Afrofuturist lens, Bey repurposes familiar brands, phrases, and portraits to create what she refers to as her “rule-based” and “process based” artworks. Across graphic design, installations, paintings, prints, collages, videos, and handmade artist books, she creates visual commentary on the world’s rapidly increasing set of issues. Bey considers her work a physical representation of “power dynamics destroyed and radically alien views.” Her utilization of witty humor, along with her close attention to texture and color are visually striking, purposefully drawing viewers to decipher the message before them. April Bey is both a practicing contemporary artist and art educator. She is currently a tenured professor at Glendale College and is well known for teaching a controversial course, Pretty Hurts, at the Art Center College of Design. She received her Bachelor of Fine Arts in Drawing in 2009 from Ball State University and her Master of Fine Arts in Painting in 2014 at California State University, Northridge in Los Angeles. Bey is in the permanent collection of the California African American Museum, the National Art Gallery of The Bahamas, and Baha Mar in Nassau, Bahamas. She has exhibited internationally in biennials NE7, NE8, and NE9 in The Bahamas, and in Italy, Spain, and Ghana. Previous Next

< Back to ACTIVATION 1/4 Sergio Hernandez Chicano Time Capsule, Nelli Quitoani January 22 - April 17, 2022 For forty years, the late Chicano artist and cartoonist Sergio Hernandez has echoed important cultural topics and socio-political issues of the Chicano community. Early on, Hernandez began working for “Con Safos Magazine”, the first Chicano literary magazine. Upon being recruited by “Con Safos” member and artist Tony Gomez, Hernandez began to align his practice with themes related to the emerging Chicano Movement or “El Movimiento”. The Chicano Movement was and still is geared toward advocating for “social and political empowerment through “chicanismo”, the idea of taking pride in one’s Mexican-American heritage, or cultural nationalism.” Across painting, cartoons, and murals, Hernandez satires socio-political happenings and provides an intimate perspective of the Chicano community. Influenced by Chicano culture, iconography, and artists alike, Hernandez’s work became a beacon calling for action and attention to the harsh realities faced by the Chicano community. The artworks in this exhibition are a small yet compelling collection of Hernandez’s contribution to the Chicano art and power movements. The panel of comic strips on display belong to the “Arnie and Porfi” comic series. Struggling with the duality of his identity as a Mexican- American, Hernandez often battled with his internal desire to adhere to conservative family-views and his newly found chicanismo. Hernandez expressed this conflict through satire and comedic relief through the Arnie and Porfi comics, visualizing the dystopian world. In other words, through art and humor Hernandez exposes the political oddities and disproportionate disparity experienced by Mexican- Americans. Sergio Hernandez (1948-2021) was born and raised in Los Angeles, California in the South Central area known as the Florence/Firestone District. He received his Bachelor Degree in Chicano Studies from San Fernando Valley State College, which is now known as the California State University, Northridge. Previous Next

4th Floor Mural Custom Aerospace Mural Curated by the Lancaster Museum of Art & History 1/1 1 - McDonnell F-21 Voodoo, a USAF supersonic jet fighter Photographic Print 2012.999.70 MOAH Permanent Collection Gift of Edwards Air Force Base (AFFTC-HO) 2 - SpaceShipOne Photographic Print 2020.FIC.05.02 MOAH Digital Collection Gift of Edwards Air Force Base (AFFTC-HO) SpaceShipOne is an experimental air-launched, rocket-powered aircraft manufactured by Scaled Composites that has a hybrid rocket motor allowing it to be capable of sub-orbital spaceflight. 3 - USAF test pilot Robert A. (“Bob”) Hoover with XFJ-2, 1951 Photographic Print 2012.999.71 MOAH Permanent Collection Gift of Edwards Air Force Base (AFFTC-HO) 4 - Corwin "Corky" Meyer, a Grumman Test Pilot Photographic Print 2012.999.72 MOAH Permanent Collection Gift of Edwards Air Force Base (AFFTC-HO) 5 - Research pilot John Manke with an X-24B Lifting Body, 1975. Photographic Print 2012.999.73 MOAH Permanent Collection Gift of Edwards Air Force Base (AFFTC-HO) John served as Chief of Flight Operations, and as site manager NASA's Flight Research Center, later the Dryden Flight Research Center, at Edwards, CA. 6 - William J. "Pete" Knight sitting in an X-15 Photographic Print 2012.999.55.03 MOAH Permanent Collection Gift of Edwards Air Force Base (AFFTC-HO) 7 - B-52 Stratofortress, c. 1960 Photographic Print 2012.999.56.01 MOAH Permanent Collection Gift of Edwards Air Force Base (AFFTC-HO) The Boeing B-52 Stratofortress is an American long-range, subsonic, jet-powered strategic bomber. The B-52 was designed and built by Boeing, which has continued to provide support and upgrades. It has been operated by the United States Air Force since the 1950s. 8 - McDonnell F-21 Voodoo, a USAF supersonic jet fighter Photographic Print 2012.999.70 MOAH Permanent Collection Gift of Edwards Air Force Base (AFFTC-HO) 9 - Anthony "Tony" LeVier posing on a Lockheed Starfighter, c. 1960s Photographic Print 2012.999.66.02 MOAH Permanent Collection Gift of Edwards Air Force Base (AFFTC-HO) Tony LeVier's test flying was instrumental in proving the Lockheed P-38 Lightning design. He and chief engineering test pilot Milo Burcham alternated flying dive tests to observe the design's performance at transonic speeds. To demonstrate the reliability of the design in the hands of a skilled pilot, he performed aerobatic shows for students at the Polaris Flight school at War Eagle Field in nearby Lancaster. 10 - Space Shuttle Columbia Photographic Print 2012.999.37.03 MOAH Permanent Collection Gift of Edwards Air Force Base (AFFTC-HO)

back to list Kim Sielbeck Kim Sielbeck is an illustrator, painter, and surface designer. Her colorful, fun illustrations can be found on packaging, clothing, magazines, and murals throughout the world. Kim was greatly influenced by her few years living in Hawai’i as a child, and moved back in 2017 after eleven years in New York City. Kim recently got married to her best friend Bryce (mid-Pandemic!), and now spends most of her time in southern California in the Mojave Desert. When not drawing, Kim travels to new places far and wide, enjoys long walks, likes making friends (except when beating them at Catan), plays guitar (check out her old band Puppies ), reads, and tries new recipes.

back to list Slinkachu Slinkachu has been “abandoning” his miniature people on the streets of cities around the world since 2006. His work embodies elements of street art, sculpture, installation art and photography and has been exhibited in galleries and museums globally. His images have been collected in three best-selling art books; Little People in the City (Boxtree, 2009), Big Bad City (Lebowski, 2010) and Global Model Village (Boxtree, 2012) that have collectively sold over 300,000 copies worldwide.

back to list Emily Ding Ding is a painter and muralist from Texas. She most often has animals as her focus and she uses a glowing spectrum of colorful spray paints to create her large scale artworks.